Knitting Factory

went in for the happy hour special of $ 5 burgers. ordered the vegan burger. was told by the waitress that it is not part of the special so would be the normal price of $ 13 because it’s more expensive to make than the beef burgers. hmm… why not have a disclaimer saying that they aren’t included? or better yet, just charge $ 6 instead of $ 5 if it’s more expensive to make. ridiculous and discriminatory. I was so excited when I found out that they had vegan burgers but this was a huge letdown and frankly doesn’t make any sense.

Nice venue with pretty great lineups, but the service is pretty lame. It’s really nice to have a good music venue in a prime location in Brooklyn, really near all the places I usually hang out. My boyfriend’s bands have played many shows here, and I’ve seen many other of my friends’ and personal favorite bands perform here over the years as well.
Unfortunately, the second the band is over, I’ve never seen people more excited in my life to shove you out the door, even those that just performed. I was helping my boyfriend carry some things after the show and was nearly threatened that if I went backstage, I would be asked to leave. The show was over. I had paid my cover like everyone else and purchased several drinks to draw in revenue and wasn’t allowed to help my boyfriend and his band carry some of their things to their cars. Thus, it took the band several trips to gather all of their things, and each time they were reminded that they needed to hurry up and leave and that we could only hang out in the front bar.
We did end up staying in the front bar after, since the back was banned after the show, and the bartender looked so miserable and provided us with pretty miserable service. We stayed for one drink, which was far too long, and left to go to a bar that was happy to have us hang out.
There’s nothing wrong with trying to close on time and escort people out of one area and into another as you are shutting it down. But do so in a friendly way. The point is to turn these people into continued customers in your front bar, not piss them off so that they choose to buy their beers and see their bands elsewhere.

I’ve been to the Knitting Factory when it was in N.Y.C. My cousin played there the same night as Lou Reed and I had a fantastic time. I was looking forward to checking out it’s new location in Brooklyn.
Let me just say that I sooo enjoy having a music venue so close to me (just a bus ride away)! Superb location! It’s nice not having to trek into Manhattan to see a gig. The Q59 stops right in front of the joint. Also, the G, L, (Metropolitan Avenue/​Lorimer St. stops) & M (Marcy Avenue) stops are just a few blocks away as well.
The place is pretty small. On the right you have the bar and the left is the entrance to the live music section. No paper tickets. Just tickets at will call. One plus of buying a ticket for a show here is that you get a free small plate at The Knitting Factory’s sister bar, The Federal Bar, which is just next door. You just print out the confirmation e-​mail and bring it with you. I unfortunately didn’t get to utilize mine.
The walls are peppered with old school show flyers. I love that. $ 3 coat check. For a place that hasn’t been open for so many years, it surely is run down! From the floors to the walls. I only encountered friendly staff. Small bar inside the music space. Went to get a screwdriver and the bartender said that she didn’t have any juice yet. What kind of bar is that??? Decent prices. The bathroom looked really creepy. My brother used it and advised me that I hold me pee in until we left! Gosh, the room and stage are sooooo tiny! Very cozy. I can’t image a sold out show here. Must be really cramped. I saw Evan Dando here on Tuesday (swoon!). It wasn’t sold out so we got right up front. I know people said they have issues with the sound but that night, the sound was fine. Maybe because it was just a guy and his guitar. There’s only one exit and that’s huge for me. Total safety issue. They need to change that. They also had the heat blasting one minute and the a/​c the next.
Not too many musicians I like play here. Mostly obscure Hipster garbage. If someone else I love plays here, I’m positive I’ll come back!

A review for the bar front area: it’s just another mainstream bar with big screens, the usual brand name beers, and music I’m just not that into. At least they had Brooklyn Lager.

Went with a large group. Spent hundreds of dollars playing tame flip cup while the bar was empty which we have done for years and angry manager decided that it’s a pretentious music venue suddenly and rudely kicked us out.

I’ve always heard about the Knitting Factory, and assumed it was this amazing venue (only because I’ve heard about it so much, probably).
It’s okay. The sound system isn’t that great. That’s why I give this place 2 stars. I didn’t want to believe it because I went to see Goldroom, who is one of my all time favorite artists. Which fan wants to hear their fave with shitty sound? Okay, it wasn’t straight up SHITTY, but it was… kinda. A great sound system is what’s important to me when I want to experience live MUSIC. If that’s not your personal priority and/​or you don’t have an ear for this stuff, then you probably won’t even notice.
Anyway, like everyone else is saying, super divey feel. It’s small. Drinks are decently priced.
However, I had an amazing time, because despite the sound quality, Goldroom killed it.

Dive bar. Dim and sticky.
Came here for a concert very cozy and loved the vibe. Easy going and not a long line for drinks. Come for the events.

Good bar, cool venue. The night I went (July 4^th) it was pretty empty, and the band who played weren’t wonderful, but overall seemed like a solid place with a decent atmosphere

First night in Brooklyn, and it was great! Even though I went to the place by myself, I found loads of nice and chill people to talk to!
The comedians were ace and my muscles still ache from all the laughter.
Good prices plus they have a happy hour!

The Knitting Factory used to be an amazing venue before they decided to move from a huge two floor venue with a bar and walking distance from Canal St. to their one floor venue with a bar right next door.
Today it took me 2.5 hours to get to the venue… smh…the L wasn’t working at all when I got to Union Square. I had no choice but to head back to Queens to get G line to Metropolitan Ave — Grand St.
When I finally arrived at the station, it was so difficult to find The Knitting Factory. Almost every scene kid that I asked where it is… gave me wrong directions until I bumped into someone kind to walk me in the direction that they were going.
I arrived at the venue and the ticket booth girl was snobby. I paid the door cover of 10 bucks. I went out of my way just so I can show support for my friend, Janet LaBelle —
! What the fuck is with the shitty ass red lightning during her set which made it worst for the pictures that I was trying to take.
If you are in a band, I would suggest you to play at The Highline Ballroom, Arlene’s Grocery, The Studio @ Webster Hall, Mercury Lounge, and etc!

I had no expectations for the venue but the knitting factory managed to disappoint, and pretty much scare me. The Weirdest venue I’ve ever been to hands down. The interior had not been updated in forever, and there was nothing inviting or «cool» about the décor. there wasn’t even a proper sign for drink prices they hung up paper signs. They assume your a drug dealer if you have a backpack and they’ll make you check it rather then just have security or someone check inside your backpack. Overall weird weird weird venue.

Straight up horrible sound. It’s tragic because it seems like label people come here quite a bit to judge up and coming bands.
Set up is ok, some of the bartenders are cool and there’s free shows sometimes. .. but the acoustics/​sound of that back room is the stuff of nightmares. Any bass player that doesn’t bring their own bass amp has to deal with some Hartke piece of crap. Sound guys rarely pay attention. Probably because there’s no chance of them improving the sound. You’ve been warned.

There is nothing wrong with the ambiance or the staff, but the sound here is terrible, so I would just not recommend seeing any concerts here.
It’s too bad. It’s relatively convenient to get to, even from way in the city.
But yeah, I saw one of my favorite bands here (Reigning Sound). Veteran live guys. Elements of the band play in different bands, who I’ve heard recently at other places (Bell House)… they didn’t get old or bad. I was literally watching them play notes on their guitars (I learned some of their stuff, I like em so much), but not hearing any of those notes in the audience, anywhere.
You know how sometimes you can walk around, if you’re in a dead zone, and the bass you can’t hear in one place blows your pant legs around in another? That was not the case here. It was loud everywhere, but evenly gated/​distorted/​muffled/​whatever.
Anyway, it’s a shame. I think you know, there’s a style of sound engineering that is necessary if your band is sloppy or you’ve got a skinny kid in girl jeans with a mac book pro on stage howling murder (the kids seem to like it these days). Whatever. But you’ve got a crisp sounding band with great live rep and 20 years of experience up there… don’t try to engineer them. The space is small enough that a decent band with decent equipment can definitely fill it up with sound.
I’ve seen amateur bands with lousier equipment do fine… for example at the Old Knitting Factory (showing my age here).
But yeah. Upping the PA so they can’t control their own sound, and engineering it into oblivion… well, why would you book artists if you don’t trust them to sound decent?

Let me preface this by saying that we were in the area and saw that there was an early free show playing, so decided to check it out. Free shows notoriously are not going to be packed, but this one was the opposite… no one was there! There is standing room only and the venue is loud. We decided to not listen to the music (which turned out to be pretty bad) and just have a drink in the bar. Bar was nice, open, lots of seating, not too packed.
I would only go back if I loved the band playing and was in the mood for some loud music!

I’ve seen a few good local bands play here. The sound system could use a lot of improvement. Ruins the show for me.
Also I saw two audience members (both drunk or high) on separate occasions get on the stage and disturb the band during play. Was funny but felt bad for the band though they played through it well. Where the heck was security?
Seems like there’s also comedy here; the quality of the sound probably is less relevant for that. So that’s maybe ok to come for.

so I went there for comedy night and it was an experience just to get things started. for the limited seating you have to get there before 7 for a 9pm show. That would be the only reason for the missing star.
The comedians were great, including the substitute host (Hannibal Burress wasnt there). they also had Aziz Ansari up there for about an HOUR! all for FREEI Drinks are fairly cheap, for Williamsburg. I would have liked them to announce that Hannibal wasnt there, but then again I understand the BIZ so i cant complain. Will go back.

*****review for Sunday night comedy*****
TIPS:
— Doors open at 5:30, If you get there early, don’t sit at a table, it along the back wall (if you sit a table or bar, they will move you)
— The show starts at 9, the place filled up by 8:15
(If you are in line, don’t fret, you will most likely get in… eventually)
— The comedy night is not just Hannibal Burress, he is the host, and introduces a bunch of amateur acts until after midnight (with a fifteen minute intermission around 10:30)
— Burress does come out and make jokes in between each act
OTHER TIPS INCLUDE:
1. Get drinks early, once place fills up, it’s gonna be hard to navigate to the bar
2. If you have to go to bathroom and you’re near the front door, you can go outside and come back in through the box office entrance
3. You can bring in your own food if you want
4. Don’t even bother trying to get one of the 12 seats in front, you’re gonna have to throw elbows to get them. Seat searchers are quite ravenous

Really good place to watch a soccer game. Large TVs everywhere. Really good HD. Good drinks
If you here for comedy show, best to come around 6−7pm to grab seats. The place was packed pretty quickly. We went there for Hannibal Burress and other acts which was really good, considering it was all free! Places like this make you love nyc.

I’ve been wanting to check this venue for the longest time and I’m glad the dude took me here to watch his friend’s band open up for an Australian band (both, by the way, were awesome!).
There are two sections to this venue. A big bar area, which looks out to the stage. Plenty of drink choices, including fancy cider (my choice of drink). The music area is spacious, with a bar to the side, as well as a unisex bathroom. I have no problem with unisex bathrooms but out of the 3 stalls, one of them did not have a door on it so that was a little awkward. Us girls in line just told the guys to jump ahead and use that one.
Looking at their calendar afterwards, they seem to have a lot of unknown bands play. Most tickets are about $ 10-​$ 12, although the show we went to was $ 17. But it was worth every dollar for me because both bands were great and us dancing! They also host Comedy Nights with Hannibal Buress on Sundays, which I’m definitely coming to check out soon.

My first time at Knitting Factory darn near directly correlated with my decision that I needed to live in New York City someday. And look — here I am! Funny how things work out.
A handful of years ago during CMJ, I stayed here with a pal for about 8 hours watching live music on a Thursday afternoon, and that barely seemed like enough time. Being a huge fan of seeing bands perform in front of a real crowd playing real instruments, Knitting Factory has the essentials for an enjoyable listening experience. The sound is usually mixed quite well, no matter where in the venue you are, you’ll have a good view of the stage, beers are cheap ($ 4 for a Rolling Rock), and they have a diverse lineup of musicians to keep you on your toes. Everything from the latest Sub Pop signing to Sixpence None The Richer, there’s a little something for everyone.
Even if you have no desire to check out whatever concert is happening that day, you can hang in the front bar area and peek into the music hall without paying a cover. You can’t hear anything, but if you just want to catch a glimpse of a band, you can do that as well while playing 16-​bit video games in the corner. All-​in-​all, one of my favorite hangs when hobnobbing around Brooklyn.